Police: Clay Twp. Shooting Of 23-Year-Old Brett Simmons Appears To Be Drug Related

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The fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Clay Twp. man during a home invasion that also left his father seriously wounded appears to be connected to the drug trade.

Chief of Northern Lancaster regional police David Steffen said Wednesday morning that the ongoing investigation shows the shooting was not a random attack.

“We’re highlighting that nothing at all in this investigation suggests an element of randomness,” Steffen said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/police-clay-twp-shooting-of–year-old-brett-simmons/article_fd43904c-4eee-11e4-9626-001a4bcf6878.html

Clay Township Fatal Home Invasion Suspects’ Descriptions Released

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More than two days after a home-invasion shooting that left a Clay Township man dead and his father critically wounded, authorities released descriptions of two suspects, who remained at large Sunday afternoon.

One is described as a young adult male, 5’9″-5’11” and of average build, according to a Lancaster City-County Crime Stoppers release late Sunday afternoon. The other is a young adult male with dark eyes, blonde hair, about 5’9″ and of average build.

The men, both masked, entered the home James Simmons, 44, was renting at 580 Clearview Road. Police responded about 11:05 p.m. Thursday.

Brett J. Simmons, 23, was found dead in the back yard of the property; James Simmons was found on the second floor.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/clay-fatal-home-invasion-suspects-descriptions-released/article_40900294-4752-11e4-8da0-001a4bcf6878.html

No Arrests Yet In Clay Twp. Home-Invasion Killing; Father Still Alive

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A 23-year-old man was shot and killed and his father shot and injured in a Clay Township home-invasion shooting Thursday night.

Brett Simmons, 23, died from an apparent gunshot wound, according to county coroner Stephen Diamantoni. An autopsy will be performed Monday morning.

Police have provided few details.

Saturday morning, officials did confirm that no one has been charged. Also, they said, Simmons’ father is alive at an area hospital.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/no-arrests-yet-in-clay-twp-home-invasion-killing-father/article_44b91bc8-452a-11e4-981e-001a4bcf6878.html

Details Of Ashley Lynn Kline’s Murder Pain Family

Ashley Lynn Kline walked past the fish tank, the TV and the family pictures and was talking to somebody on her cellphone when she went out the front door the night before New Year’s Eve, so her father really did not have a chance to say much to her.

What Michael Kline told his 23-year-old daughter was, “Be good.”

It was the last time Michael Kline saw Ashley alive.

On Thursday afternoon, 17 days after Ashley left the modest three-story brick home in Robesonia where she had grown up, her father sat in the kitchen and reflected on the fact that two young men had been charged with killing Ashley by stabbing and burning her.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article/20140117/NEWS/301179949/1052#.Utlqb_Qo6c8

Recap Of Live Coverage: DA Says 2 Men Charged In Ashley Lynn Kline Homicide Case

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Two Berks County men are charged with beating and stabbing Ashley Lynn Kline, then setting her body ablaze in a Clay Township wildlife area, according to officials.

Adam M. Lynch, 21, and Ryan M. Schannauer, 19, were both charged Thursday morning with the brutal killing of Kline, a 23-year-old Berks County woman who had been missing since Dec. 30.

Police allege on that night Lynch and Schannauer picked up Kline from her home, killing her sometime later in the night or next morning.

Both are locked up at Lancaster County Prison, without bail, after being arraigned on counts of homicide, arson, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy to commit all three of those crimes.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/944824_Recap-of-live-coverage–DA-says-2–men-charged-in-Ashley-Lynn-Kline-homicide-case.html#ixzz2qa6gw4y1

Death Of Woman Found In Clay Township Ruled A Homicide

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The death of a woman who was found Sunday in a Clay Township wildlife area has been ruled a homicide.

Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said Monday afternoon that the woman died of “substantial trauma” to her body.

He declined to elaborate on the trauma.

The coroner said dental records are being used to identify the woman, who had been dead in Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for “at least days.”

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/943494_Death-of-woman-found-in-Clay-Township-ruled-a-homicide.html#ixzz2qJPFC1nd

Cocalico Police Go Regional

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The process of establishing a Cocalico-area regional police force got underway officially on Nov. 26 when the East Cocalico Police Board held its organizational meeting.

The nine-member board — two representatives each from East and West Cocalico townships and Denver and Adamstown boroughs, plus one member-at-large — met in the East Cocalico Township municipal building.

The four municipalities agreed to regionalize over cost concerns regarding their current coverage, which is provided by East Cocalico Township.

West Cocalico, Adamstown and Denver were considering dropping East Cocalico’s police coverage. All had sought bids from Northern Lancaster County Regional Police, which is headquartered in Clay Township.

Read more:  http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/926265_Cocalico-police-go-regional.html#ixzz2mL1NFZQy

Sunoco To Pipe Shale Gas Through Clay, West Cocalico Townships

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A decommissioned underground pipeline that once carried gasoline across the state and through Lancaster County could see new life from the Marcellus shale gas boom.

Representatives of Sunoco Inc., of Philadelphia, have recently been in West Cocalico and Clay townships doing site surveys and scouting locations for a pumping station needed as part of a statewide retrofit of the pipeline so that it can transport natural gas to a facility in Delaware.

“Mariner East 1 is a project to transport natural gas liquids (NGLs), also called liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) from the Marcellus and Utica shales in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex on the Pennsylvania/Delaware border,” Sunoco representative Jeff Shields wrote in an email Nov. 20.

The Mariner East 1 project would stretch from a Sunoco facility just outside Houston, Pa., in Chartiers Township, Washington County, to its transportation hub in Marcus Hook, Delaware County, or a distance of about 300 miles.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/921971_Sunoco-to-pipe-shale-gas-through-Clay–West-Cocalico.html#ixzz2lJHodFsv

Man Charged With Assaulting, Torturing Elderly Sisters Waives Hearing

A 22-year-old man will be tried for binding, beating and torturing three elderly Mennonite sisters last year in what police called a case of “ethnic intimidation.”

Dereck Taylor Holt and his attorney, Alan Goldberg, waived a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning on numerous offenses, including felony aggravated assault, robbery, unlawful restraint and reckless endangerment.

In turn, District Judge Tony Russell ordered Holt to be tried on 23 charges related to the Dec. 14 incident in Clay Township.

Holt, locked up on $1 million bail since his arrest Dec. 16, appeared in the Ephrata courtroom only to sign paperwork.  He said nothing.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/811494_Man-charged-with-assaulting–torturing-elderly-sisters-waives-hearing.html#ixzz2K3oNvcKr

DA Calls Assault On Elderly Women In Clay Twp. One Of Lancaster County’s Most Heinous’ Crimes

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The young man accused of torturing three elderly women Friday in their Clay Township home was apprehended swiftly because of collaborative efforts among local police.

That was the message Monday from Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman, who led a press conference confirming a litany of charges against 22-year-old Dereck Taylor Holt, who is believed to have targeted the women solely because of his as yet unexplained hatred for members of the Mennonite faith.

“This is one of the most serious crimes that we’ve had in Lancaster County history, one of the most heinous crimes that didn’t result in a homicide,” Stedman said.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” he said.

“To say that I’m shocked by this — we’re all shocked by this — is an understatement.”

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/794078_DA-calls-assault-on-elderly-women-in-Clay-Twp–one-of-county-s–most-heinous–crimes-.html#ixzz2FSJdUNjI

Man Charged In Attack On Three Women In Clay Township

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A 22-year-old man has been charged with torturing three elderly women in an act of “rage” against the Mennonite faith Friday at a Clay Township home, police said.

Dereck Taylor Holt allegedly used a stun gun-like device on the women, ages 84 to 90, and punched them, according to Northern Lancaster County Regional police. He then bound their hands and feet with tape, covered their faces and ransacked the house, investigators said.

Investigators allege Holt terrorized the women for at least two hours, during which time he indicated he previously had been a member of the Mennonite community and has anger for its members since he left the faith, officials said.

During the assault, he read various Bible passages and then vandalized the women’s Bible, police said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/793669_Man-charged-in-attack-on-three-women-in-Clay-Township.html#ixzz2FKQHfwGW